This is one of those sides that are perfect for lightening and brightening a heavier meal, that is interesting and tasty, but requires minimal ingredients and almost no time. Simple, but perfect, especially in warmer weather.

The quest for the smoothest, creamiest and fluffiest hummus is no stranger to the internet. Methods for achieving this ideal are all over the map, some swearing by certain brands of canned chickpeas, others insisting on starting from dried chickpeas, or maintaining you must soak them, boil and even peel them.

Sometimes you combine two things and it really doesn’t work at all. Like Grape Nuts and oatmeal. That didn’t work. But sometimes imagination and reality match up beautifully, like in this potato salad. I had volunteered to bring potato salad to a bbq potluck but I wanted something more interesting than your standard American version. Esquites is just the off-the-cob version of the Mexican street corn called elotes, which is corn that gets charred and slathered in a creamy, zesty combination of mayo, crema, cotija, cilantro, and lime. It’s one of those dishes that makes your taste buds go crazy with textures and flavors. Perfect for tossing with some plain potatoes and turning into something delicious and interesting!

You will love this salad. So will anyone you share it with. Make it for your next BBQ! Or make it for your Easter luncheon. We had it for dinner with black beans and slaw. It’s really good warm or room temperature but it can be served cold, too. I never find roasted potatoes to keep amazingly well for the next day, but this holds up alright because of all the yummy extras.

A note about the roasting: I love the extra flavor and texture dimension that roasted potatoes add to this salad, but you could just as easily boil the potatoes until tender and then let cool a bit. They might soak up a bit more of the dressing, but that’s nothing to complain about!

First the potatoes: Preheat the oven to 475. Put the chopped potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Salt the water well! Potatoes absorb a lot of salt while cooking, giving them flavor; otherwise they will be bland. Set over high heat and bring to a boil. Boil for just a few minutes until the potatoes are just about fork tender but not quite. Drain. Place a large baking sheet in the oven with 1 Tbsp of oil and let it heat up.

Drizzle the remaining 2 Tbsp of vegetable oil over the potatoes in the large pot. Cover the pot with a lid and shake the potatoes around pretty vigorously to coat the potatoes with the softened starch and the vegetable oil. This will result in very crispy edges when roasted. (Note: if you boil your potatoes too much they may fall apart at this stage so be careful!)

Remove the baking sheet from the oven, tipping and shaking gently to spread the heated oil. Carefully dump the potatoes out onto the pan and spread out. Give them a sprinkle of salt, then stick the pan back in the oven.

Roast for 20-30 minutes or until tender, crispy and golden brown, turning over the potatoes midway. Remove and let sit while you make the esquites.

For the esquites: Whisk together the mayo, sour cream, scallions, cilantro, and lime juice.

Carefully slice the kernals from the cob using a sharp knife. Heat 2 Tbsp oil over medium high heat in a skillet. Add the corn, sprinkle with a bit of salt, stir a bit, and then let sit and cook and develop a little brown on the underside. Stir after a few minutes and let the other side brown for a few more minutes. Add the garlic and chili powder and stir for just a minute.

Scrape the corn into a large bowl. Add the sour cream mayo mixture and stir well to coat.

Add the potatoes and toss well to combine. Salt to taste. Sprinkle with the crumbled feta. Serve warm or at room temp.

Cornbread is close to my heart. I have so many memories of going to Boston Market, hashing out an absurd amount of cornbread for myself. I’m sure I wished I was allowed to eat a whole meal of it (but then, also a meal of mashed potatoes too….). And while I haven’t been in a Boston Market for years, cornbread has remained a great love. And for me, when I say cornbread I mean soft, moist, and sweet (i.e. Northern style) cornbread.

A while ago, I used a gift card from my Grandma to get Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables. Running a vegetable garden business in the backyard, I figured it would be nice to have a few more ideas on how to cook up all the veggies. I've really enjoyed the recipes I've tried so far. This one might be my favorite yet.

This salad is a delight. It's so fresh and flavorful and the perfect accompaniment to barbecue, spicy Mexican, or any lighter spring/summer meal. Fresh sweet corn contrasts with salty feta and the zing of the lime bounces around in your mouth with the herby cool of cilantro. The fresh zucchini gets softened by the vinaigrette but keeps a pleasantly firm texture which it otherwise loses when cooked.

Few things surpass a buttery, perfectly flaky, multi-layered biscuit. They are well worth the effort of thorough prepping -- freezing small-sized pieces of butter (perhaps even the flour as well), ensuring the liquid ingredients are sufficiently chilled, meticulously avoiding overworking the dough, using a razor sharp cutter, and only rolling the dough out once.

Before growing vegetables for market, I don't think I ever ate a turnip. If there was a time, I can only think of maaaybe eating mashed turnips. Once. But like kohlrabi, turnips have surprised me as being quite delicious.

We've made this cranberry-orange relish every year for Thanksgiving for as far back as I can remember. It adds brightness to an otherwise heavy thanksgiving meal. Although a warmed or jellied cranberry sauce often melds better with the other elements on the plate (stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes), there is something so superb about this fresh and zingy relish paired with a slice of turkey breast. So usually I take a bit of both -- the fresh cranberry relish and the cooked cranberry sauce -- and alternate my bites of turkey between the two.

Here's a basic-as-they-come traditional bread stuffing, straight from the old classic Joy of Cooking. (If you're beginning to suspect I'm 60, I'm not. Joy of Cooking might not be the best for trendy or sophisticated recipes, but, man, they get their basics right.) Keep it simple and just make it as written, or add in some sausage/dried fruit/nuts/mushrooms to jazz it up a little. It's a springboard!

After our first year of market gardening, we all agree that the most underrated vegetable is kohlrabi. It is delicious and full of flavor, most similar to the taste of broccoli stems (my favorite part anyways). Plus, it takes up hardly any space in the garden (a huge plus for our 1/2 acre farm). It also helps strike up a conversation, as it looks somewhat unusual, if not a bit alien.

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